Shameless Therapy
Healing the Past. Remembering Your Wholeness.
Shameless Therapy is a telehealth, private psychotherapy practice for residents of Connecticut. It is a sacred, confidential space designed to heal the root of psychological pain: the belief that we are fundamentally flawed.
My Therapeutic Philosophy
My approach is rooted in a growing understanding across the field: shame is often at the core of our emotional and relational struggles. Anxiety, depression, and conflict in relationships aren’t who you are—they’re symptoms of a deeper disconnection from your sense of safety, belonging, and worth. Shame acts like a virus, quietly convincing us that we are unlovable, unsafe, or not enough. And when we believe that, we begin to live from survival strategies rather than from our true self.
Therapists across disciplines are recognizing that healing shame—restoring the felt sense of “I am good, I am safe, I belong”—can lead to profound shifts. When you begin to see yourself through the lens of your own wholeness, the symptoms that brought you to therapy often begin to dissolve on their own.
This is why shame is my focus. Our work together isn’t about fixing you—it’s about creating a safe, honest, and attuned relationship where those old patterns can be gently unraveled. It’s about remembering the wise, whole, and powerful person you’ve always been.
A Different Approach
Therapy with me might feel a bit different. It’s built on a partnership of trust and transparency, and it’s for those who are ready for a truly collaborative journey.
-
We Address the Root: While we’ll work with the struggles that bring you in—anxiety, depression, relationship challenges—our deeper goal is to reach the root. Together, we’ll explore the core beliefs and survival strategies shaped by shame and reinforced by the cultural, familial, and relational systems around you. These patterns disconnect you from safety, worth, and belonging. Our work is about gently untangling those threads and restoring your connection to what’s already whole within you.
-
Our Relationship is the Foundation: I believe healing happens in the context of authentic, attuned relationship. My approach moves away from the model of the distant, removed therapist. I will meet you in the muck of your experience—with warmth, genuine care, and my own honest presence. This is a partnership, and I will walk beside you with reverence and steadiness.
-
We Work Through the Body: Shame lives in the body, not just the mind. That’s why our work will include somatic practices—simple, accessible exercises that help you exit the looping thoughts and reconnect with your felt sense of safety and truth. These practices help you build a new relationship with your nervous system, one rooted in compassion and regulation.
-
Support Between Sessions: Healing doesn’t only happen in the therapy room. I offer curated resources—readings, podcast episodes, guided meditations—to support your integration between sessions. These tools are designed to deepen your understanding of yourself and help you stay connected to the work, even when we’re not meeting.
Our Sessions
My work is deeply influenced by the Internal Family Systems (IFS) model (Level 1 certified) . At its heart, this approach helps us understand our inner worlds with compassion.
We learn that deep inside, we all have younger parts of our psyche—our "inner children"—who may have been convinced by the "virus of shame" that they are bad or flawed. To protect themselves from this unbearable feeling, these young parts create powerful protective mechanisms: perfectionism, people-pleasing, anxiety, control. Over time, we mistake these protective strategies for our actual personality.
Our work together is about healing the lies told by the presence of shame. We will create a safe space to meet these younger parts, listen to their stories, and unburden them from the fear and pain they carry. As we do this, their protective mechanisms can finally relax, allowing your true, authentic Self to shine through, unencumbered by shame.
Who this is for:
This practice is for Connecticut residents seeking clinical treatment for:
-
Anxiety and Depression
-
Relationship and Marital Issues
-
Parenting Challenges
-
Spiritual Trauma
-
Navigating Life Transitions
Outcomes of our work:
Our journey together is a process of remembering your wholeness. While every path is unique, here are some of the outcomes we can work towards:
-
Differentiate your true voice from the inner critic, so you can live from a place of self-trust.
-
Soften the old defensive strategies—like perfectionism or people-pleasing—that keep you feeling stuck.
-
Develop a greater capacity to receive love, joy, and success without pushing it away.
-
Build a lasting connection to your own inner wisdom and source of unconditional love.
-
Strengthen your sense of self, allowing you to set healthier boundaries with confidence and ease.
-
Express your authentic needs, gifts, and desires more freely and joyfully in your life and relationships.
Next Steps
This is a private-pay, telehealth practice. If you are a resident of Connecticut and feel called to this deeper way of working, I invite you to schedule a complimentary consultation to see if we are a good fit.
The fee for a 50-minute individual counseling session is $200. For couple's and Family counseling, the fee is $250 per session.
A Note on my practice: Shameless Therapy is a clinical psychotherapy practice. All services for residents of Connecticut are provided by Amy Vales Counseling, LLC. While this work incorporates spiritual and holistic principles, it is a clinical service and not a substitute for medical advice.